Longitude

Our first car ride to Gumallapaddu Village was the perfect formula for paradise: the sun shining overhead, a gentle breeze flowing through the window, and the kind of vast landscape that you’d imagine when listening to Toto’s “Africa.”  Every so often a holy cow would roam casually into the path of our jeep, which coming [...]

It is my first day back in Japan after a truly amazing time in India and as I pore over the many photographs I took in GP village I am transported back there by the children’s beaming smiles, the warmth of which I can physically feel despite the cold of my [...]

The fish farm-lined road to Gummallapadu holds a healthy bit of traffic this morning. The car bumping along it is blasting Bollywood tunes as it winds through the bustling crowd: a few nervous goats pick at the grass; a lazy water buffalo stubbornly refuses to move off the path; a chicken crosses the road (why? [...]

Although it was only yesterday that we received what I believe to be the world’s warmest welcome, I can easily say that this won’t be my last visit to GP village.  As I write this, I’m sitting with Prasanthi, the woman with the very important job of tutoring the village children and keeping track of [...]

The morning started out with promise of a  full healthy group, but
sadly, two of our group members, Michelle and Claire, had to go to the
hospital for stomach problems.  It isn’t truly a trip to India until
you have some form of Delhi Belly.
Upon our arrival at the work site, we divided up into much smaller
groups.  After [...]

Longitude’s Building Communities program which Ravi and his Association of Relief Volunteers (ARV) have created, has so much to offer to the Dalit community. The villagers are provided with stable, long-term homes and the education to fight for greater recognition and support from their government. Ravi’s continuing commitment to the Dalit community is my reason [...]

By: Joel Post (March 2009 Gummallapadu Village Volunteer)
When one thinks about southern India, snow doesn’t usually come to mind, but there it was all around me: snow drifts, avalanches, snow cones…but I am getting ahead of myself.
The first and last days of camp were the most memorable for me. Let’s start with getting to GP [...]

Q. What can we do from our home countries to support the Longitude Uncaste India Campaign?

A. This is an awesome question! There is a lot our volunteers can do, before, during and after their work camps in India.
As you hopefully know by now, you, the Volunteers ARE Longitude. Longitude is an international network of [...]

Q. Why aren’t there more vegetable gardens in the villages? Are the villagers lacking in knowledge? Seeds? Fertilizer?

A. Regarding Gummallapadu Village (GP), the main reason why there were not more vegetable gardens is because the surrounding land has been terribly degraded by the omnipresent aqua-culture farms. Essentially, the local communities surrounding Kolleru Lake were [...]

Hello to all Longitude supporters.

The subsequent posts represent a Q and A session extending from the request I made to our supporters before my April 09 Evaluation Expedition I made to our project sites in India. There are some very good questions, and I tried to give as much detail as possible to help illustrate [...]

To recap from my last post ‘Pin Drop Silence:’ In India, the higher castes have built their power and authority on the subjugation of the lower castes, especially the Dalit. Who does the menial labor necessary for higher caste life to exist? The Dalit. Who cleans up the rivers of human effluence with bare hands [...]

Here are some pictures of the houses we began over three years ago in Kothasatram/Indiranagar Village, India.

The white-washed houses are complete and there are many happy families living in them now. The first picture (left) is of a house dedication ceremony I was invited to take part in. Just after I cut the ribbon, the [...]

Here are some pictures of the houses in various stages of completion in Gummallapadu Village, India.
From April 2009
Rick Mickelson
Longitude Director of International Volunteering

India is an assault on the senses.
From the putrid aromas wafting from rivers of human effluence and fields of smoldering garbage to the cacophony of car horns, shrill screams and construction machinery to the serenely beautiful landscapes juxtaposed against crumbling, half-built infrastructure, there is seemingly enough to confound and delight one’s soul for eternity in [...]

Waylaid by a quick bout with the infamous Delhi Belly, we are now a day behind schedule…actually, we had a contingency plan for just such an occasion.  I was planning to fly back south to catch my flight home, but Ravi canceled that and then booked two train tickets for us, so that we can [...]